The possibility to control translocation of molecules through nanoscale apertures is central to bionanotechnology as it opens up for new ways to filter and entrap biomolecules. In biological systems one finds remarkable examples of nanoscale containers with extreme control of the local chemical environment, enabled by selective transport of molecules through the surrounding membrane.

In our research we are trying to create artificial systems that perform the same task using solid state nanopores functionalized with polymer brushes, systems we refer to as “macromolecular gates”. By fabricating nanopores in thin gold films we can implement new ways to analyze and manipulate molecules inside the pores, such as surface plasmon spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. In this talk I will describe our latest results on controllable gating of polymer-functionalized nanopores with respect to proteins.